Pages

Monday, August 5, 2013

Comics Review: Amazing Spider-Man #301

Written by: Dave MichelinieArt by: Todd McFarlane How can you ever top that last issue, seriously? Giving us Venom, his origin, and a badass fight all in one super sized issue. Well the only way to even try to top it is...to write another damn issue! The cover, if you'll see, is an exact copy of 300, except Spider-Man is wearing his traditional red and blue suit. We open up to see a group of guard looking dudes running through a hallway. Could they be high tech robbers? Maybe a new S.W.A.T. team for the NYPD? Maybe they're just cosplayers. None! They're the Wild Pack, a group of mercs, and they're on some sort of training mission now which they fail misserably after boasting about blocking some paint balls with their shields. These guys were testing out a new security system for the Pruett Building in Manhattan. That's all fine and dandy and all, but the owner of the building would feel much safer if the security system were being tested by the leader of the Wild Pack, The Silver Sable herself, instead of her hired lackeys. She doesn't want any part of it though, its just not her style. Sure, but everyone's got their price, and the offer starts at $50,000! She's playing some hardball with these guys, not letting up...then they double the offer. Lady, TAKE IT! She's giving ME a heart attack and I'm just reading those numbers! Thank God she takes it, cuse I was beginning to get worried. Who knows what number would've flown out of that mans mouth next. Leaving that tension filled room and headed over to a newly bought condo apartment we find Mary-Jane Watson Parker and her husband Peter Parker .A.K.A. The Amazing Spider-Man, putting the finishing touches on furnishing their apartment. Time runs short and MJ remembers she's got a photo shoot to get to in a little bit. No problem, Pete's got a quick errand to run before heading over to NYU to check on a photography course. He head's over to the Symkarian Embassy, where the Sable is paying a nice visit to her uncle. They're talking about security when Spidey drops in, and throws in a line about their own security. The reason for the visit is light, he just wants to know why Silver Sable sent that Wild Pack on him a couple weeks ago. She admits it was only business, nothing personal. Wait, did I read that right? Aren't they friends, or at least professional co-workers?! Good to know she'll sell out anyone for the right price. (Wanna hate Silver Sable even more? Read Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man Ends of the Earth story arc (682-687) where SPOILERS!!!!******* Silver Sable dies while Spidey is trying to save her life. Anyways, I'm rambling.) Silver Sable recieves some visitors that don't exactly set off Spider-Man's Spider Sense, but he definitely doesn't like the feeling that they leave him, deciding that Sable can handle her own, he leaves to let her figure it out by herself. Little does he know, it was the same men she was just doing business with earlier that very day! Meanwhile, back at Parker's apartment, an older gentleman is looking for the good boy, but the bellhop let's him down and says he's not in. But he could be found at Empire State University. While there, Peter gets stopped by one of his old teachers and gets roped into helping out with a physics class. The example he gives for electrons was hilarious. He says they're always on the move, like Pee-Wee Herman after a Mexican dinner. While he teaches kids, the real claws come out at MJ's photo shoot. Another model is being a sassy beeatch to MJ, sarcastically complimenting her hair, and MJ shooting right back. I can hear the hisses now, and I think I see the tails raising. Back to ESU, that old man arrived just in time to miss Peter leaving again. His luck isn't looking too great, but who knows, maybe its not good if this man finds Peter. MJ's gonna be working late, so Pete decides its not too bad an idea to feed his curiosity and bug the Sable some more about those weird visitors that're still nagging him. Pete did some research on these guys before heading over to find the Sable. Pruett seems to check out normally, a hard business man, but legit. The other gentleman though doesn't have any information available from before three years ago. Doesn't exactly prove anything good or bad about the man, but its still weird. He finally arrives at Cruz's apartment, and his Spider Sense starts going nuts! Not uncommon to find a security system in the home of a security specialist as Cruz is. Remember, he's the one selling his system to Pruett, which is being tested by the Silver Sable as we speak. She's setting up to make it through the obstacle course that is the security system that challenged the Wild Pack earlier. She's burning through this building, deciding to head into an elevator shaft and try her chances on the main floor. Over at Cruz's apartment, Spidey finds a lit up corner in this dark room, he then finds a phone with a hidden switch which moves a wall back and reveals...a Nazi shrine. This Cruz dude is a new age Nazi. A huge flag, an even bigger poster. Candles, patches, guns, anything from the 40's you can think of, this dude has. The Silver Sable may have just gotten herself into a predicament that she won't be able to crawl out of. The Sable just missed getting her ass burned off by laser beams, she uses a can of spray to reveal them in a completely empty hall way, her bag snags one of the beams, but no alarms go off. She confusingly walks away as the corner of her bag fizzes and sizzles quietly. Spidey figures out Cruz's plan, he is the son of an infamous Nazi from the 40's who Sable and her Wild Pack put in jail a couple years ago. His father died in jail and since then, he's been plotting against her and her team. He's built a security system with acid paintballs and laser beams and tricked them into testing it out. He doesn't only want the Sable out of commission, he wants her DEAD! Now time is running short as Spider-Man rushes over to the Pruett building to save the Silver Sable! Peter finally arrives at the Pruett building, he's just gonna pop in, fill in Sable about everything going on, and leave. She can still handle the rest on her own, no biggie. He smashes through a window, since they had pressure sensitive steel locks, just in time before the steel shutter crushed him like a Star Trek blooper. He finally finds the Sable as she's about to hit the final button at the end of the course. He webs her finger telling her it could kill her and how does she repay him? By assuming he's the final obstacle set by Cruz to distract her. Feel free to facepalm yourselves......now. She won't let up for a second, shooting at Spidey and not letting him get any words in. She's convinced he's doing it as a way to get back at her for having the Wild Pack go after him. He finally sets her down and just spills the beans, he tells her about Cruz's real name, Kraus, and who his father was. She stops the fighting long enough for Spider-Man to rip the panel with the button off its console revealing explosives that would've sent her to infinity and beyond! Cruz escaped the place just as Sable radioed in that she was safe, he assumed that meant she found the explosives, he obviously didn't know about Spider-Man. Back at home, that old man finally caught up with the Parker's. He's sitting in Peter's living room with MJ and she introduces him. His name is Martin Jacoby, and he's looking for Peter to offer him a job! He was recommended by Dr. Curt Conners, which raises some red flags in Peter's head. The job is in Kansas and Peter is going for a ride to check out the place! Well that was a very interesting issue, I hope later in the book they go back and find this Cruz dude. If we're lucky that story wasn't printed in a Sable-only book. And even mentioning the Lizard makes me want to read about him, one of my favorite Spider-Man villains. I'm excited to read up on Spidey's mishaps in Kansas, they can't ever end well. After all, that's just how the Parker Luck works, right? Until next week!-Matt Milanes